Clijsters backing Belgian women to win the title (Australian Open diary)
By DPA, IANSSaturday, January 23, 2010
MELBOURNE - After a shock third round exit, Kim Clijsters is hoping that one of her Belgian women compatriots wins the Australian Open.
US Open winner Clijsters, only back last summer from a brief retirement, won just a single game in a 52-minute match against Russian Nadia Petrova Friday.
Asked who she now supports, the 26-year-old had no hesitation: “Any Belgian. Even (US Open semi-finalist) Yanina (Wickmayer). I have a lot of friends on tour. There’s a lot of girls I would (now) like to see win it. Of course, if it would be a Belgian, that would be nice.”
Wickmayer, suffering back problems, and Justine Henin, who is also back after having left the game, are still flying the flag for the European nation.
Clijsters remains puzzled by her complete lack of form against Petrova.
“I was just questioning myself out there a lot. I was really trying to, at the same time, turn it around. You don’t really know: why is this all of a sudden happening?” she asked.
“You just try to stay calm. There were points where I really, like, wanted to break my racquet into pieces, but you know that’s not going to help either. At some points I was just happy I was hitting a ball in. That’s how bad it was.”
-*-
Safina eager to perfect her culinary skills
Dinara Safina is trying her hand in cooking, with the Australian Open second seed purchasing the Julie and Julia cook book inspired by the film of the same name.
Usually, the Russian hangs out in her hotel room when not at the tennis venue. But the eagerness to polish her culinary skills drove her to a central Melbourne expedition.
“I bought the Julie and Julia cookbook,” Safina said. “That’s what got me out of the room.”
She said that plan for a new flat in Moscow was also a motivation.
“I like cooking,” Safina said. “I’ll have cookbooks, I want to cook.”
The 23-year-old said that her culinary skills are modest but they are fast improving.
“I’m just starting, but until now nobody got sick. This is the positive,” she said. “They might like it or not like it, but if they have problems with the stomach, it’s not good. But no one has complained so far.”
Safina said that her repertoire has so far been limited to “not a bad asparagus risotto - and of course, green salad with olive oil”.
